Could Kevin Smith Be Heading To Arrow Season 5? Here's What Stephen Amell Says

Kevin Smith hasn't technically made a comic book movie - though his movies used to get turned into comics on a regular basis - but he's still a filmmaker who gets namechecked when the subgenre comes up, given his ties to the printed page. Smith had a dream realized some months back when he directed an episode from The Flash Season 2, which immediately inspired fans to wonder if and when he'd attach himself to Arrow. Star Stephen Amell was asked about the chances that Smith, who says he'd prefer to write for the darker drama, could get involved in Season 5, and here's what the actor said.

I'd say they are good. He's not directing one this year, unless things change, which they always can, and they already have, so please try to interpret that the best way you can.

So, nothing exactly set in stone, but also nothing not set in not stone either, or something. Stephen Amell obviously has at least some behind-the-scenes knowledge of how Season 5 is going to go down, or else he just knows Kevin Smith's schedule so well that he knows the filmmaker can't fit it in. Perhaps in this Facebook post, Amell was just referring to Smith's preference for writing over directing for Arrow, a viewpoint that could certainly change in the future, since I can't imagine Smith would just turn down heading up an episode if it was lobbed at him. His Flash ep had an emotional core that wasn't exactly cheery, so it wouldn't be a huge departure if he took control of Team Arrow.

Why am I even bothering with thoughts about him directing when Amell just said he wouldn't be? His writing voice is more distinctive than his directorial vision anyway - which isn't a slight - and I think Smith would contribute more to Arrow Season 5 by telling a particularly wicked Star City tale. His own idea for an Arrow arc would involve the comic villain Onomatopoeia, the sound-making villain he created, and that would make for a particularly wild installment. There are all kinds of new characters coming to Arrow in Season 5, but I think a villain-of-the-week(s) could work for a Kevin Smith teleplay to come into existence.

Following the widespread acclaim for Smith's episode of The Flash, the show locked him up for at least one more episode in Season 3, so he'll definitely still be involved with The CW's DC Universe when the shows come back this fall. (Some are also calling for him to direct the Scarlet Speedster on the big screen.) And while he's got Yoga Hosers and Holidays hitting theaters later this year, he'll also be sticking around the small screen to develop a TV remake of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, which should be the zaniest thing on TV if it gets ordered, as well as the ten-episode sequel to Mallrats that was originally supposed to be a feature. Will he even have time to write for Arrow?

Arrow Season 5 is set to kick off on Wednesday, October 5, at 8 p.m. ET. Here's hoping Stephen Amell was on target in his optimism for Kevin Smith getting involved. Check out everything else you can watch over the next few months with our summer premiere guide and our fall premiere guide.